On July 22, 2026, a new independent research organization called Ethlabs launched. Its founding team is made up of former Ethereum Foundation contributors: Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz Schilling, Josh Rudolf, and Julian Ma. All five have spent years inside the foundation, working on core protocol development now they are bringing a decade of experience to the new entity.
Hands-off funding model
Ethlabs made a clear commitment: none of its backers will influence research priorities or technical decisions. Donations and contributions go through an independent grant administrator who handles review, evaluation, and allocation. The organization will release quarterly reports and annual audits; funders can see where money flows but cannot steer the ship.
Research will target faster consensus, scalability, cross-chain interoperability, data availability, and protocol economics — areas Ethlabs sees as essential for underpinning Ethereum's growing activity, especially as institutional interest surges.
Investor lineup: miners, wallet, co-founder
Initial supporters include mining firm Bitmine, software company SharpLink, Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, digital asset custodian Anchorage, DAO protocol Octant, and venture firm SNZ. Bitmine board chairman Tom Lee argued that more institutions and AI intermediaries will raise demand for extra research capacity; SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom described the launch as a catalyst for Ethereum's next institutional phase. Joe Lubin added that Ethereum is entering an era where multiple independent organizations can steer the network's technology and values through oversight roles.
Independent research for a maturing Ethereum
Ethlabs executive director Ansgar Dietrichs highlighted that Ethereum's nearly ten-year track record and principle of neutrality already built trust with users and institutions. The new organization aims to advance the chain's technology, standards, and underlying infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Ethereum network is absorbing more use cases — stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, DeFi, and AI-powered trading systems. Ethlabs intends to prepare the protocol for that expanding demand. Decision-making stays inside the team; funders get transparency reports but no veto power.